Brain Disorders and the Ketogenic Diet

Researchers, clinicians, and patients have long experienced success with the ketogenic diet in treating epilepsy. However, the mechanisms and mediators that allow the ketogenic diet to act as an antidote for epilepsy are not entirely known.  In the search for understanding, the ketogenic diet has been implicated as a possible therapy for other brain disorders including, but not limited to, Alzheimer’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, brain cancer, depression, and Parkinson’s disease.  The efficacy of the ketogenic diet in treating these brain disorders has recently been shown in cell culture, rodent, and human research studies.  Alzheimer’s Disease Alzheimer’s disease also referred to as Type III diabetes is a type of dementia where symptoms of memory loss and intellectual difficulties develop and progress over time.  Additionally, older adults with Alzheimer’s disease are at an increased risk of developing epilepsy [1].  The development of the disease involves the degeneration of neurons via the accumulation of extracellular plaques. This happens when amyloid protein and alterations in mitochondrial homeostasis, along with the decline in cerebral glucose metabolism, begin to […]…